Evaluating Possible Upgrade Paths
Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2
If the computer on which you want to install Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP Professional is running Windows 95, Windows 3.1, or Microsoft® Windows NT® Server version 3.51, you need to perform a clean installation. In addition, you need to choose clean installation if you are using Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition, Microsoft® Windows NT ®Workstation version 4.0, Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Professional, or Windows XP Professional operating systems and you want to install Windows Server 2003. In most other cases, you can choose to upgrade. Table 2.1 shows the possible upgrade paths for Windows XP Professional and Windows Server 2003.
Table 2.1 Upgrade Paths for Windows XP Professional and Windows Server 2003
| Existing Operating System | Upgrade to Windows XP Professional | Upgrade to Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition | Upgrade to Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition | Upgrade to Windows Server 2003, Web Edition |
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Windows NT Server 3.51 |
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Microsoft® Windows NT ®Server version 4.0 (with Service Pack 5) |
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Microsoft® Windows NT® version 4.0, Terminal Server Edition |
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Microsoft® Windows NT® version 4.0, Enterprise Edition |
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Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Server |
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Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Advanced Server |
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Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition |
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Windows 3.1 |
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Windows 95 |
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Windows 98 |
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Windows Millennium Edition |
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Windows NT Workstation 4.0 |
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Windows 2000 Professional |
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Microsoft® Windows XP Home Edition |
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There are three exceptions to the options listed in Table 2.1:
You cannot upgrade from one localized version of a Windows operating system to another localized version of a Windows operating system. For example, you cannot upgrade from the Japanese version of Windows 2000 Server to the English version of Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition.
You can upgrade a computer that has the Multilingual User Interface Pack (MUI Pack) only to the English version of the operating system.
You can upgrade from Windows NT 4.0 only if you have Service Pack 5 or later installed. It is not possible to upgrade a computer that has Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 4 or earlier.